


Embarrassment

by RatMonarch



Category: Hustle Cat (Visual Novel)
Genre: Awkwardness, Bathtubs, Canon Compliant, Cats, Cute, Embarrassment, F/M, Female Avery, Flirting, Funny, Humor, Pre-Relationship, Second-Hand Embarrassment, Teasing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-11
Updated: 2019-03-11
Packaged: 2019-11-15 11:15:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18072404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RatMonarch/pseuds/RatMonarch
Summary: Avery was a bit concerned that Landry might actually die of embarrassment.





	Embarrassment

Avery knew cats were more expressive than people gave them credit for. The popular stereotype was that cats could only look smug or indifferent. While Avery could agree that they certainly _could_ look like that, she would also argue though that cats could not only express other emotions, but that they emoted better than most dogs did. Take her cat, Mochi, for example. Despite the fact that Mochi’s face was flat and wrinkly, he could express quite a wide range of emotions. He could look annoyed, pleading, arrogant, cute, happy, satisfied, and more. 

Or maybe Avery was just a crazy cat lady. She wouldn’t overlook that being a possibility. 

Despite all of that, Avery could honestly say she had never seen a cat look absolutely mortified until today, when Landry decided to prove her wrong. Humiliation was the only thing she _could_ see in his face, with his averted eyes, stiff body, swishing tail, and flattened ears. Avery didn’t necessarily blame him for feeling that way either. She was sure this wasn’t exactly a proud moment of his life.

Feeling bad, Avery tried to supportively say, “Hey, I am sure the others had have experiences just like this. They are just too prideful to admit it is all.”

“Avery…” Landry began with a mew. 

“Yes?”

Not looking Avery in the eye, he meowed, “I get you are trying to be supportive and believe me, I am grateful for that. But please… don’t.”

Feeling a bit embarrassed herself now, she said, “Sorry.” 

Avery should’ve known something was wrong earlier. 

She had just gotten off of work and had been walking back to her apartment, when suddenly, she and Landry had bumped into one another. This was a common occurrence. She had a tendency to accidentally bump into her coworkers in their cat forms on her way home. She sometimes wondered if they lived on the streets. She couldn’t imagine it would be easy for them to pay rent or open doors as cats. Part of her always felt like asking, but she was unsure about how to go about it tactfully. She knew that she wouldn’t exactly be eager to reveal to someone she was essentially homeless and didn’t exactly want to put her coworkers through that. So, for now, she dodged the topic. 

However, when she saw Landry, a sudden desire came to her to help out. So, leaning down, she looked at Landry and said, “Hey, Landry, do you got any plans tonight?”

Landry had shifted uncomfortably, not meeting her gaze, his paws shuffling in the dirt. Voice neutral, he meowed, “Not really, no. Not much to do in this form except sleep and hunt mice.”

Avery opened her mouth, but Landry beat her before she could say anything, meowing, “That was a joke by the way. I’ve never eaten a mouse.”

Once Avery got over that wave of relief, she noticed that Landry hadn’t mentioned anything about going home or anything of the like. That was just confirming Avery’s suspicions that Landry didn’t have a home to go back to at all. Perhaps that was why he looked so uncomfortable when she had asked. Avery didn’t think Landry was exactly the prideful type like Reese or Mason, but maybe there were certain exceptions.

And if it was indeed the case that Landry was homeless, then Avery felt bad leaving him out here all by his lonesome self. She wondered if this was one of the reasons Landry stayed back so late. Better to do something productive than to go back to literally nothing.

So, that’ when Avery came up with a genius idea. Looking at Landry, she smiled and said, “Hey Landry, why don’t you spend the night at my apartment?” 

Landry’s eyes widened, and he suddenly looked embarrassed. He waved a paw and stammered, “O-oh no, it’s alright. Thank you for the offer though, that is very kind of you.”

Thinking Landry was just being overly-polite as always, Avery waved her hand back and said, “Nonsense, I have plenty of room. Besides, it’s getting colder.”

Then, before Landry could protest more, Avery promptly scooped him up into her arms and began carrying him. Landry fussed for a bit and wriggled, but eventually, he resigned to his fate. Avery was glad no one was out on the streets with them at the time. She’d probably be an odd sight, carrying a ginormous fluffy cat around. She would probably also garner a lot of people asking to pet her cat, which would probably embarrass Landry more.

Avery had taken the opportunity to try and distract Landry for a while, chattering to him about how lucky he was to have gotten a day off that day and about a particularly frustrating customer that day. However, about halfway to her apartment, Landry suddenly said, “Hey, Avery? Can I please walk the rest of the way?”

Avery had narrowed her eyes skeptically, which caused Landry to sigh and let out a huff, “I’m not going to run away as soon as you set me down. I just don’t want to be carried.”

Avery didn’t see what the big deal was. It wasn’t like anyone could recognize Landry in this form. Well, maybe except their coworkers, but if they dared to make fun of Landry over something like this, then Avery would pick them up when they were in their cat forms and cuddle them in front of everyone in revenge. 

But maybe Landry didn’t even have a justification. Maybe he just didn’t like it. Or maybe Avery was holding him too tightly or something. Either way, Avery supposed she could give him a break. So, nodding, she set him down, warning, “Okay, but if you run, I _will_ chase you.”

“Part of me wants to see that,” Landry meowed, amusement lacing his tone as his feet hit the ground, but thankfully, much to Avery’s relief, he did not bolt off. 

They walked the rest of the way in silence until they reached the threshold of Avery’s apartment. Opening the door, Avey gestured indoors and said, “Go on in.”

But Landry ddn’t. He just sat in front of the door, looking uncomfortable, his paws kneading the carpet of the hallway. 

Some part of Avery could immediately sense something was off. Giving Landry a serious look, he said, “What’s wrong?”

Landry looked like he was trying to formulate an excuse on the spot, but eventually he deflated in defeat. Giving his chest fur a few embarrassed licks, he meowed, “Avery, I am going to be upfront with you.”

Avery arched an eyebrow and more curious than ever, she crossed her arms and said, “Yes?”

Landry swished his tail once or twice nervously, before he suddenly meowed, “I, unfortunately, have fleas.”

Avery blinked at that. Out of all the possibilities that had been coursing through her mind, that answer had certainly not been one of them. Thinking that she must have misheard, she said, “Excuse me?”

Landry had actually seemed mildly frustrated at her question, snapping, “I have fleas, alright?”

It took Avery’s brain a few more seconds to process that information before she remembered that she had been holding Landry rather close to her body. Letting out a rather undignified squawk, she quickly began brushing her body off, in case one of those little bastards had decided to cling on. 

Landry watched her display with a sigh, his ears flattening a bit as he had mewed, “I kept trying to tell you not to bring me home with you.”

“You couldn’t have, I don’t know… dropped some better hints or something?” Avery said in exasperation. Great, now she was going to feel like she had creepy crawlies all over her the whole day. 

Landry looked embarrassed, saying, “It wasn’t exactly something I wanted public, okay? I have trouble with this. They tend to get on me when I fall asleep. I think it’s because my hair is longer. Usually, I arrive early at Graves’ place and use his shower but I didn’t have an opportunity today…”

As he was explaining, Avery couldn’t help but feel bad. He obviously was embarrassed and it wasn’t like he could help it. Hell, unless she could figure out a way to get rid of this curse she might have to face similar problems. She shuddered at the thought. 

So having mercy, she sighed and had said, right as Landry was talking about leaving before he got fleas on the carpet, “Look… I have flea shampoo. Do you want me to get rid of them?” 

“You do?” Landry said. 

Avery nodded, “I have a cat named Mochi. I idiotically left the window open to air out my kitchen after I burnt a pizza and he escaped and by the time I found him, he had bugs on him himself… so I still have some.” 

Landry looked tempted, but he meowed, “I don’t know if I am exactly thrilled at the idea of you giving me a bath.”

Avery rolled her eyes in frustration, saying, “Oh my gosh, Landry. No one is going to know but you and me, and your a cat. Stop making this weird.” 

Landry looked like he was going through a mental debate but he finally accepted, which put them in the situation they are now. Landry sitting in the middle of her aunt’s bathtub, looking like a brown wet mop, suds covering his body. Mochi paced outside the bathroom door, mewing worriedly. He obviously wasn’t brave enough to go near the bathtub, but he also did not approve of what Avery was doing to Landry, probably remembering his last experience in the bath. 

Landry sighed and said for probably the umpteenth time, “You’re not going to tell anyone about this are you?”

Avery washed the suds off of his body, warning, “Ask me again, and I will.”

Landry sighed, “Point taken.”

They lapsed into an awkward silence again, which made Avery feel awkward. She felt the need to say something. But words of comfort were out of the question and mentioning anything else would be an obvious attempt at trying to change the topic. So, she decided to do an awkward attempt at flirting. 

“You know, whenever I had a ‘man in my bathtub’ fantasy, I didn’t imagine it’d be like this,” Avery teased lightly. Thankfully, Landry actually snorted and let out a chuckle.

“Can I really be called a man in this form?” Landry asked. 

Avery rolled her eyes and said, “Listen, I know you as the guy from work. My mind refuses to accept you as anyone else. If I did, I would be accepting the cat curse.”

“Still hoping it’s a fucked up dream?” Landry asked.

Avery sighed and said, “I used to, but I don’t know. I like everyone… even Graves, though don’t tell the bastard that. I am glad I met all of you. But that doesn’t necessarily mean I want to turn into a cat either.”

Landry nodded in understanding at that and said, “You get used to it.” 

Avery grimaced at the thought. That wasn’t exactly comforting to her. Landry seemed to sense this as suddenly, he gently placed one of his paws over her hand and said, “If it makes you feel any better, I am glad I met you too.”

She couldn’t help the smile that crossed her face. Patting his wet head, she said, “Awww, thank you, Landry. You’re the sweetest.”

Landry gave a smile back, and let Avery continue her ministrations. 

When she finally finished and drained the tub and rubbed him with a towel, she said, “Well, you’re allowed to stay the night you know. I wouldn’t want exactly want to throw you out in the streets.”

Landry nodded and said, “If you don’t mind, then I might take you up on that offer.”

Giving Landry a saucy look, she said, “You know, I also had ‘men in my bed’ fantasies…”

“I am sleeping on the _couch_ , Avery,” Landry quickly said, embarrassment clear in his tone. 

Avery couldn’t help but let out a laugh despite herself.

**Author's Note:**

> Just something quick I thought up of. I randomly selected Landry out of everyone in the cast because he is for some reason the hardest for me to get a grasp on as far as his character. I hope I did alright with this attempt and I hope you had fun!
> 
> As always, critique is appreciated. 
> 
> Have a great day!


End file.
